ADL launches research, resource hub for online pathways to youth violence, extremism
The initiative focuses on digital spaces that glorify mass shooters and killers, which the ADL claims contribute to the normalization and desensitization of violent content.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has unveiled a comprehensive research and resource hub aimed at examining online communities that influence young people towards violent and extremist behavior. This initiative zeroes in on digital spaces that idolize mass shooters and killers, contributing to the normalization and desensitization of violent content.
Among the spaces highlighted are gore forums, sextortion networks, and self-harm groups, including the transnational network known as The Com and its sub-group 764. The ADL explains that The Com operates across four primary areas: Extortion Com, Anti-Extortion Com, Offline Com, and Cyber Com. These sectors include sexual exploitation, child sexual abuse material, physical attacks, and hacking/swatting, respectively.
Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL Executive Chairman and National Director, asserts that these networks act as pipelines, transforming vulnerable youth into victims, perpetrators, or both through a subculture called the True Crime Community (TCC). This subculture is fueled by a fascination with violent criminals and fosters an environment where cruelty is rewarded with status, turning young individuals into either victims or perpetrators.
In response to these digital threats, the ADL has established a resource hub featuring tools such as a global TCC attacks map, a memetic violence field guide, and behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) guidance. BTAM is designed as an early intervention framework for schools, workplaces, and professionals to identify genuine threats based on warning signs like grievance, ideation, planning, and preparation.
The ADL's monitoring has led to at least 16 arrests globally since 2024. The organization has also reported that antisemitism is deeply ingrained in the culture of The Com and 764, often manifested through online propaganda, screen names, swatting campaigns against Jewish institutions, and physical violence. Examples include a 764 member livestreaming the fatal stabbing of an elderly woman and groups claiming responsibility for swatting hoaxes at synagogues.
The ADL's report emphasizes that these digital networks operate across platforms like Discord, TikTok, Roblox, and Telegram, fostering a social hierarchy where actors vie for notoriety through extreme acts. Abusers often employ tactics such as creating "lorebooks" with compromising personal data and forcing targets to undergo "cut signs" or "blood walls" to demonstrate submission.
To counter these threats, the ADL recommends expanding investments in community-based violence prevention programs, increasing funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and enacting legislation to hold technology platforms accountable for the spread of extremist content. The ADL also plans to collaborate with state attorneys general and district attorneys to enforce relevant laws.
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